


The sword in the stone

by Hyfriancarousel



Series: Red shoes month 2020 [4]
Category: Red Shoes and the 7 Dwarfs (2019)
Genre: Best Friends, Childhood Memories, Elemental Magic, Excalibur, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Inspired by King Arthur's legend, Long Hair, Past, Pre-Movie: Red shoes and the 7 dwarfs (2019)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-04
Updated: 2020-08-04
Packaged: 2021-03-05 21:08:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,636
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25711858
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hyfriancarousel/pseuds/Hyfriancarousel
Summary: Best friends help each other out, no matter how vague or impossible a problem is to solve.It helps if your friend is creative.
Series: Red shoes month 2020 [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1860025
Comments: 2
Kudos: 36





	The sword in the stone

Tears rolled down Arthur’s cheeks.

He sobbed by the creek. Shaded by the trees, hidden by the tall hills. Weeping in private was the only way for him to let it all out.  
He couldn't let anyone see him like this. He had to be strong.

He had to.

He HAD to.

Tears streaming down his face and his nose getting runny probably didn't look that strong.

"Arthur?" 

A familiar voice called to him from above. Merlin stood by a tree, gazing at his friend with curiosity. 

Arthur opened his eyes and wiped away his tears.

"Go away! Leave me alone!"

Sometimes it was good to give your friend’s space. But not with Arthur. He was very much an outlier. An odd number grouped up with evens.

Merlin slid down the slippery side of the hill, dropping next to him. His small, brown coat flowed from the impact. He moved his fringe to the side as to actually be able to see.

"What's wrong?"

Arthur turned away from him.

"Stop looking."

Merlin tilted his head, pressing his hand against his fringe to make sure it wouldn’t get in the way of his eyes. He tried to lean closer to see what Arthur was hiding from him, but the other just shooed him away with his hand.

He was always like this when he got sad.

Merlin sat down, trying to think of what to do. Not force, not meanness, not being loud made Arthur feel better.

So what should he do?

Merlin faced his friend.

"It's okay. You can talk to me."

Arthur wiped his nose. His eyes were red. His voice tired.

"They fought again."

Oh dear.

Merlin scooted closer.

"Over the sword?"

Arthur nodded into his knees. His nose was no longer runny, but his face was red from tears. He pounded the ground with his fist.

"They keep fighting day and night. Excalibur this, Excalibur that!"

He took a blade of grass between his fingers and yanked it from the ground.

"Everyone stops when someone has it, but then the next person steals it and the fight starts all over again!"

He sighed.

"I guess some sword is more important than me."

Merlin grabbed Arthur’s arm and shook him.

"That's not true! You're way better than some dumb piece of metal."

Arthur sniffed.

"You think?"

His voice was quiet but thankfully hopeful.

Merlin nodded, excited. However, his smile fell. He let his leg dangle over the side of the creek, almost letting it touch the water.

"Wish the grown-ups realized that too."

They sat in silence. Merlin took a rock from the ground and threw it into the stream. It skipped once before the water claimed it.

He tried again.

And again.

Most of his tries plunged into the deep immediately, but it wasn't about the skill. It was a way to relieve anger.

And think.

Merlin halted, staring at the rock in his hand. His eyes widened as he turned to face Arthur, leaning really close. Two eyes blinking through the hair he had to once again move.

"I have a plan."

Arthur shifted so he was facing him as well.

"What, what? A plan?"

Merlin sprung up.

"It's a surprise!"

He winked with a smirk and quickly ran back up the hill. Seeing his coat disappear from view left Arthur with more questions than answers, but knowing Merlin, this was going to be something big.

Hopefully fun too. Arthur hadn’t smiled in a while.

He stared at his reflection, calming his nerves. Making sure his face was no longer red, he dusted himself off and made his way back home.

He dreaded the castle.

Earlier his father was at least trying to be nice. Now he was exactly like the knights of the kingdom, fighting over a sword like birds over fish.

At least the birds had a reason to do what they did.

The knights already had swords. Why did they care if there was another one?

He opened the door, only to be pulled in by force.

"It's gone! Arthur, what did you do?!"

His father, screaming at him. What a nice welcome gift. Arthur pulled away, freeing himself.

"I didn't do anything!"

Clearly his father didn’t think so. A pair of furious eyes glared at him as his father yelled once more.

"Then where’s Excalibur?!"

The sword?

It was missing?

Another person must have gotten their hands on it. Arthur sighed with relief, but the tenseness didn’t ease up. His father would simply go after the sword again. The same fight. Constant anger.

The creaked door flew open. Arthur’s older brother stood in the doorway.

“Father! The wizard kid has the sword!”

Arthur backed away from the door as his father got closer.

“What?! Where is he?!”

His father ran outside, followed by his older brother. Arthur got left alone. The door creaked, trying to close, but unable to.

Arthur walked to the doorway, resting his hand against the wood.

“Merlin?”

He took a breath and ran out.

\---

Golden Goose Avenue. Usually used as a place to relax, the grass was now occupied by a couple dozen furious knights. Arthur pressed through the heavy looking armor and shined shields. 

Thank the skies for him being lanky and nimble! For once that was a good thing.

In the middle of the ring of knights, the center of attention was Merlin. Held rather harshly from his shirt by a much bigger, much taller knight.

"You little brat! What did you do?!"

Even with the knight screaming at his face, Merlin didn’t flinch. He blew air to move his fringe.

"I put the sword away."

Behind the pair was a stone, large enough to be called big. Unassuming for the most part, expect for one new, eye-catching addition.

Excalibur was lodged into its center.

A gasp escaped Arthur. His eyes shifted back to Merlin. Was he okay? Was he going to get hurt?

That was not acceptable!

“Let go of my friend!”

Arthur charged to the center of the ring. The knight looked over, distracted by the noise. Merlin reached into his bag and pulled out a yellow piece of paper.

A talisman.

As Arthur pushed the knight away, Merlin jumped from their hold and clapped his hands together.

A roar of lightning struck the knight, causing them to stay down. 

Completely unconscious.

A hush fell over the crowd as Merlin landed next to Arthur. 

They exchanged glances.

“...Thanks, Arthur,” Merlin whispered.

He skipped over to the stone and jumped on top of it. Merlin faced the crowd of knights who were angry yet chivalrous enough to not attack children. Perhaps the earlier show of power gave them second thoughts?

“May I have everyone’s attention, please?”

Merlin cleared his throat, placed his hands behind his back and closed his eyes.

"Unselfish, Gracious and Truthful must yea be, to set the sword Excalibur free."

Murmurs, whispers and surprisingly loud chatter filled the air. Arthur looked around to see the faces of the knights. They looked confused.

“What does that mean?!” Arthur’s brother yelled out.

"In short,” Merlin said, “if none of you can be nice and share, the sword shall stay in the stone.”

He pointed to the crowd. “Forever!"

The chattering turned into annoyed grunts and yelling. Angering a group of already angry people was not a good strategy, but Merlin was going for impact, not smarts.

"That sword is a priceless artifact,” A knight said. “Take it out right now!"

Merlin threw his hands in the air.

"I can't!"

He took a hold of the blade’s shiny handle and pulled it.

The sword didn't even budge.

“See? It’s stuck!” Merlin said. “And unless you’re unselfish, gracious and truthful, you’ll never get it out!”

Arthur’s father stepped out of the ring.

“Nonsense! You just need more strength!”

Merlin raised his brows as he stepped off the rock.

"If you want to try,” He gestured to it, “go on ahead."

The group of people gathered around the stone as Merlin walked away. All of them forgot their anger towards him thanks to their greed for power.

He walked to Arthur, turning around to face the crowd of people. He crossed his arms and smiled at his friend. He quickly fixed his fringe.

Arthur stared at him, dumbfounded.

"How did you put it in the stone?"

Merlin moved his arms. He turned his hand to reveal a talisman that seemingly appeared from thin air.

"Magic."

He dropped the talisman, but caught it, trying to act like he did that on purpose. 

Arthur blinked, still confused. He tensed up.

“But won’t you get in trouble?”

A laugh escaped from Merlin, turning into a quieter giggle. He shouldn’t draw the attention back to himself.

“I’m faster than any of them. They couldn’t catch me if they tried!”

He raised his hand for a high five. This was definitely a situation for one of those! Celebration!

Arthur raised his hand too, but stopped in place.

“Hey, don’t leave me hanging!” Merlin said.

Arthur stared at the mass around the sword. People trying to get it for themselves. A head popped out from here and there, but they almost looked like one big greedy creature.

Arthur sighed.

"They're still fighting."

Merlin dropped his hand back down. He faced the fighting knights.

"Grown-ups fight over everything. They’ll get tired soon and move on to the next small thing."

Merlin showed his tongue to the crowd of people.

“They can get eaten by a dragon for all I care!”

He grabbed Arthur's hand.

"Come on! Let's go play!"

He pulled Arthur along as he started running. The stone, the sword and the crowd left behind, the forest further away grew bigger, closer. A much nicer place away from other daily annoyances. A safe place, one could say.

Arthur smiled.

**Author's Note:**

> Day 4: Excalibur of @redshoesmonth2020's (tumblr) Red shoes prompt month.


End file.
